Friday, May 13, 2011

Little Citrus Palmiers & Spicy Parmesan Swirls

'May there always be Sunshine, May there always be Blue Skies, May there always be Little Hearts to nibble with a cup of Tea.' These cute little biscuits leave you to start your day fresh with a happy note of sweetness. I like both citrus version and spicy cheesy version, perfect to soothe your senses and chalk out the action plan for the day. Couple of weeks back, I was fascinated with this special Palmiers recipe put by 'The Cilantropist' on her blog. The moment I saw the recipe, I wanted to give it a shot. I mustered enuf courage and the required ingredients that very weekend, and here is the outcome of my experimentation with palmiers. The first time I tried this recipe, the palmiers got little burnt, so be careful about the timings in the oven. This is my second attempt and it came out really well. The recipe is simple, baking is little tricky but the baked biscuits are SUMPTUOUS... !

Method for Citrus Palmiers:
Preheat the oven to 450 F and line the cookie tray with parchment paper.
Defrost the puff pastry.
Prepare Citrus mix by mixing confectioners sugar, orange zest, and salt in a bowl.

Citrus Mix made by mixing Sugar and Orange Zest

Sprinkle some flour on the board and roll out one puff pastry sheet.
Cut it in half using pizza cutter, rolling it thru the middle.
Pour 1/4 cup of the sugar/citrus mix on the puff pastry sheet.
Put another layer of pastry and again pour sugar/citrus mix. and spread it out.

Layering of the Pastry sheets with Citrus Mix

Fold two sides of the sheets halfway towards the middle, then fold them again so the two folds meet exactly in the middle of the sheets.

Again fold one half over the other half, as though you were closing a book.
this will form a stack of dough with 6 layers.

Folding Pastry Sheets like a Book

Using a sharp knife, thinly slice the sheets and place them cut side up on the prepared baking sheet about 1-inch apart.

Cutting The Palmiers filled with Citrus Mix

Bake the palmiers in the preheated oven until the sugar gets caramelized fro approx 6-7 minutes.Swiftly remove the palmiers from the oven and flip them over gently with a spatula, and return them to the oven to bake for another 3-5 minutes. Be careful, in handling the palmiers or cookie tray, its really hot. Keep an eye so that sugar doesn't get burnt, quickly transfer the palmiers to cooling rack and enjoy.

Aren't these Little Beauties amazing !!!

Ingredients for Spicy Parmesan SwirlsGrated Parmesan Cheese : 1/2 cup

Red Pepper powder : 1/2 Tsp

A pinch of Salt

Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry: 1/2 sheet

Our Ingredients for Spicy Parmesan Swirls

Recipe of Spicy Parmesan Swirls

In a bowl, mix Parmesan cheese with paprika and dash of salt.

Defrost the puff pastry sheets.

Spread the cheese mix evenly on the pastry sheets with a spoon or spatula.

Roll the sheets tightly to make a circular disk.

Cut the sheets into thin strips with a sharp knife.

Rolling the Layered Sheets to make Swirls

Bake the strips on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper for 5 minutes at 450 degrees F.

Flip the swirls swiftly and bake for another 2-3 minutes.

Let'em cool down for a while & enjoy your parmesan swirls.

Here they are... Ready to go - Enjoy !!!

These Spicy Parmesan Swirls were too addictive. I wasn't left with a single swirl to save for later.....just kept munching with a cup of hot Tea.... !!!

Sonia, I love flaky pies/snacks....This citrus palmiers look soo good! Your pictures are always good, so I can see every detail and want to eat even more! It looks easy enough as long as I look at the pictures. Maybe I can bake this...:-D

I LOVE the idea of the parmesan swirls, and the citrus palmiers turned out perfectly too! I agree with you that they can be tricky to bake - the sugar turns from perfectly caramelized to burnt relatively quickly - but the result is totally worth it. I can't wait to try your savory version! ;)